Pinky: Two coats of OPI 4 in the morning. I took a nail art white striper to create the stripes.
Ring: Two coats of OPI Hey baby. I added a gold stud as an accent for the nail.
Middle & thumb: Two coats of OPI My vampire is buff. Cheetah print created with Hey baby and black nail art striper.
Index: Two coats of 4 in the morning.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Hi everyone! I recently received some Polished London nail polishes in the mail, which is a brand that is new to me. I have to say that I'm quite liking the formula of these polishes. They flowed easily onto my nails and application was easy.

First up is Miss Navy, a beautiful dark blue shimmer. I love the look of depth on this one and I bet it would look magnificent with a matte top coat too! This was two coats.

Buckingham blue is actually more of a teal than a true blue. A pretty light teal crème, but nothing special. Two coats.

Union Black, a black crackle! I haven't pulled out my crackle polishes for the longest time, so this was a nice reminder of the simple and cool nail art effect. One coat over Buckingham blue.

Fierce is an orange toned red. It's more orange than my photos show - too bad my camera isn't a fan of reds! Two coats.

Double decker is a truer red polish and unfortunately, my camera makes it look like Fierce. This was two coats.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Hey everyone. Since acquiring OPI Bubble bath last year, it lay sadly in my untrieds pile until I finally decided to pull it out the other day. I'm not sure if I'm totally in love with this sheer nude - it's a very close shade to my skin tone and if it weren't for the fact I created a glitter sandwich with it, I think I would have had mannequin nails. I used OPI Rainbow connection for the glitter sandwich.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Hi everyone! Today, I have a review of Fuse Gelnamel Starter Kit. Fuse is a new-to-me brand which has recently launched in Australia. What makes Fuse stand out amongst the other gel nail polish brands in the market is the travel friendly LED lamp and the idea of having a base coat, colour and top coat all in one bottle. The lack of need to apply base and top coats definitely cuts down on the application time and would appeal to many busy women today.

As with most gel nail polishes, Fuse offers a starter kit which includes a Fuse Gelnamel, LED lamp, 12 lint free wipes, manicure stick, double sided nail buffer and cleanser.

The LED lamp comes with a long USB cord, allowing the user to easily connect it to a computer or USB adapter.

Before I began my application, I made sure to read the instruction booklet in the starter kit. I was instructed to take a lint free wipe and swipe my first nail with the cleanser to ensure all oil is removed off the nail surface. I then applied one coat of the gel nail polish Gone Fission, wrapping my tips in the process. I stuck my finger into the LED light, hit the top button and waited for it to turn off automatically 30 seconds later. I then swiped my nail with the lint free wipe soaked in cleanser to remove the top layer of sticky residue.

Because this is a pure glitter gel polish, I had to apply a second coat to get a decently opaque coverage. Repeat the application, curing and cleaning process and voilà, my first nail was completed. Fuse instructs to complete one nail at a time due to natural oil being present on the nail, which is cleaned with the cleanser right before the gel polish application.Complete the above steps for the rest of your nails and then you'll have a complete gel nail polish manicure.

A couple of things I noticed when using the starter kit:

The gel polish bottles are not clear, but instead show an image of the nail polish inside. In the case of Gone Fission, I found it a little misleading as I thought I had a glitter polish in a tinted base.

The caps of the bottles can be removed to reveal a smaller, round handle. This is much easier to grip when applying than the initial square cap.

I had planned to keep my nails for the promised 7 days of wear. However, by my fourth day, I found the gel nail polish had completely fallen off one of my nails. I decided to remove the entire manicure and out of curiosity, tried to lift the gel polish off my other fingers. Most of them came off with ease in one or two pieces.

On the one hand, this saved me the trouble of the longer 'buff & soak off' removal process. But on the other hand, this manicure did not last me the full 7 days promised.

To be fair, I believe this may have to do with my nail chemistry with gel nail polishes as my previous experiences with different brands have also led to the same result - the gel polish would lift and be easily pulled off. I have given my mum a gel nail polish manicure before with a different brand and she had to go through with the normal removal process. And so my quest continues as I try to find a gel nail polish which works with my nail chemistry!

Fuse starter kits retail at $49.99 and each individual gel polish can be purchased at $14.99. You can find them online at fusegelnamel.com.au or in stores at Priceline and Big W.

Have you tried gel nail polish before? What is your experience with it?

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Hi ladies! Today I have three polishes from Sally Hansen's complete Salon Manicure range to share with you. The polishes featured are definitely shades which I would not normally reach for - bold red and pink shades, as well as a pale peach which usually clashes with my skin tone.

First off, this is actually my first time trying out the Complete Salon Manicure range and I have to rave a little about the brush. I love how it's wide and rounded at the ends - it makes my application so much easier.

Naked ambition is a light peach with a dense shimmer running through it. I normally wouldn't reach for a shade like this in case it clashes with my skin tone. To my surprise, it actually looks quite decent on me and I will be pulling this one out to wear when I'm need of a very work appropriate shade. My swatch shows two coats.

Berry important is as the name states - a raspberry pink shade. Whilst it may not be unique to many nail polish stashes, it is to mine simply because I don't tend to choose pink/red colours when I go polish hunting :) This was two easy coats and super opaque.

Red zinis a cool red crème shade. It has a crelly finish and applied easily. Two coats.

I have to say that whilst these shades aren't the most unique, I am interested in the rest of this range. I absolutely love the brush and definitely wouldn't complain if I had to add more to my stash ;)

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Hi ladies! Last year, I shared with you some swatches of OPI's Gwen Stefani collection (which you can find here). I recently received the rest of the nail polishes in the mail and so here are my two cents on them and the collection as a whole :)

4 in the morning is a satin finish black crème. If you look closely, you can see that it has a fine silver shimmer, which I'm sure will come to life when a glossy top coat is added. I applied two coats for my swatch.

Hey baby is a classic hot pink polish. It's bright and pink, so definitely a new and unique addition to my purple/blue dominant stash haha! This was two coats.

I sing in color is a beautiful vampy red polish. So dark in fact, that it can pass for a black polish under dimmer lighting. I love the crelly formula in this, it gives it such a glossy and squishy look. Two coats.

Push & shove, the mysterious chrome of the collection! My photos honestly give it no justice, the silver is much more reflective in real life. I applied the base coat which came with it on my ring and index fingers before applying Push & shove. For my pinky and middle fingers, I simply applied the polish straight onto my bare nails.

I honestly don't see a great difference with using the base coat as it didn't do anything to hide my ridges. It definitely didn't help with wear time when I went to wear this as a full manicure without top coat either - the nail polish slowly faded off my nails as the day went on.

Overall, this is a solid collection. Whilst they aren't terribly unique in terms of shades and finish (eeven the chrome has been done by other brands before), the colours are very Gwen. If you're after some staple shades, you will definitely find them in this collection.

Gwen Stefani by OPI is now available in David Jones and Myer stores. Each bottle retails for $19.95.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Hi everyone. Because I don't own any nail polish brands which begin with the letter Q, I pulled out my only nail polish which began with the letter - China Glaze QueenB. Rather than have a plain crème polish manicure, I layered OPI I lily love you over the top of it.

I'm loving the way this layering came out and it reminds me that I should probably pull out I lily love you to wear more often!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Hey ladies! When I sat down to create this manicure, I was in the mood for something sweet, so it was no wonder I reached for the sweets design on BM-306. My base shade is two coats of Essie St Lucia lilac.

I had always been looking for an occasion to sport this image plate design, so there was really no other appropriate time :P

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Hi~ :) This is such a lame title, but I do rather like how my nails turned out here haha. I started with two coats of OPI Hey baby and then took Glitter Gal Galaxy holo top coat to create a pink holographic finish. I'm pretty in love with the way this turned out ♥